Chapter 290 - 34: The Lord (2)

Words : 1667 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

Chapter 290: Chapter 34: The Lord (2) "What do we do? They’re coming to find us? Providing them with so much armor for free, Lord Jones, we’ll be bankrupt!" Dora worried. "No!" Jones held up a finger, his face expressionless, "Even if we went bankrupt, we couldn’t supply them with so much armor." He lowered his head and silently picked up a pen, then wrote a letter to Gray. *How do we deal with the White Bone Holy Light Court?* *Of course, we turn to Gray. Besides him, probably no one in this world can handle those Mad Liches.* Jones quickly wrote a letter to Gray, sincerely telling him that he was truly poor, extremely poor, unable to provide the White Bone Holy Light Court with such a massive support of "one million sets of armor." "Unless you’re prepared to lead the White Bone Holy Light Court to conquer the Blood Clan with me; otherwise, it’s impossible to accomplish this even if I go bankrupt." "They’re planning to come for a ’face-to-face discussion,’ I think it might be some kind of implicit threat or extortion. Hence, I had to inform you in advance." Jones especially highlighted these two sentences, then handed the letter to Dora to deliver. Since leaving Salted Fish Port, Jones had written many letters, but this was the first one to Gray. If possible, he probably would never want to seek help from Gray. It felt like asking his father for help, becoming a barrier in Jones’s heart, marking them both as off-limits. *But this time was different, the situation was too critical. That group of Mad Liches could do anything. Morca is an example, turned into an unrecognizable mess just because a group of Liches wanted to read novels...* After Dora hurriedly left, Jones silently opened the other replies. The content of the other replies was quite consistent—asking for samples, prices, and discussing terms. "The Beisher Duchy itself has blacksmith workshops, sufficient blacksmiths, but the current demand is far too high. Newly expanded manpower needs time to train; they cannot become excellent blacksmiths immediately. Moreover, expanding manpower means I will have to reduce blacksmiths post-war since we won’t need so many all the time. Overall, the cost is too high." "We tried resolving it through trade, but now every country needs weapons and equipment. The market has very few available, and they’re extremely expensive. It’d be great if you could supply, even partially." "Standard knight armor including weapons costs one hundred gold coins per set, heavy infantry armor including weapons thirty gold coins per set, and light infantry armor with weapons ten gold coins per set. Full horse armor costs one hundred gold coins per set. I am about to go mad. The standard letter says if you can deliver, then send them over. Also, do you sell horses?" "Can you make crossbows? I urgently need a large number of longbows!" "We need installment payments, offering one percent interest. Will you accept? I have plenty offering two percent interest, don’t discuss those with me." *After reading them, Jones was stunned. Has the situation become like this? I seem to have been away for just a month, hasn’t the war started yet?* *Well, it seemed immune to these issues even when I was here.* The mobilization of duchy-level legions, no matter how small, costs money—spending like running water. They need equipment, food, everything. As for the Silver Moon Knight Order, most members don’t even have salaries. Those who do receive theirs sometimes and sometimes don’t, salaries are distributed based on chance, depending on whether Gray remembers and has money in his pocket. Everyone seems not to care much about this. *Thinking about this, Jones felt relieved.* *One must admit, war does stimulate the economy. Look at these lists, just hate not having enough hands, there is absolutely no shortage of business.* *Of course, whether it can be done depends on the specific freight calculation.* *This should be good news, right? Except for accidentally revealing to that group of Liches that I have armors for sale.* After finishing this urgent matter, Jones resumed his busyness. Exploration and map making, during which he went to Hilde to tell Adelle he needed some samples and had the smithy rush them out. In the evening, Jones already received Gray’s reply brought back by Dora. The reply had only one sentence: "Understood." Holding the letter, Jones felt a bit confused, he looked at the letter under the candlelight, up down, left, right, and after all this, still saw just one sentence. There wasn’t even a signature. Jones couldn’t believe it was Gray’s reply. "Did he say anything to you?" "He did..." Dora stammered, "He originally asked me to tell Lord Jones that he understood and would handle it. Didn’t plan on sending a reply. After I specifically asked him to write a reply, he wrote this letter." *Frowning deeply, Jones murmured to himself, "Is he not planning to help me? If he weren’t planning to help me, he wouldn’t tell you to say ’I’ll handle it.’ He always keeps his promises. But if there’s no problem, why only reply with one sentence?"* In a small voice, Dora said, "I think he’s too busy." "Busy preparing for war?" "No, I think his troubles aren’t about war preparations, it should be the issue with the White Bone Holy Light Court. The Liches... they possess powerful abilities and genuinely seek justice, but they don’t know how to interact with humans. Sometimes, their methods are particularly harsh, just like their letter to Lord Jones. It’s fine if it’s Lord Jones, for you know the Holy Knights will support you. It’s not a big problem. But if others received such letters from the White Bone Holy Light Court..." *Dora didn’t continue, but Jones could imagine.* Bruto told Jones, "For justice, you shouldn’t discuss money with us." Jones understood that he truly meant it. However, any other person would likely see the White Bone Holy Light Court as extorting. Well, maybe they were extorting and didn’t see it as wrong. *The key is their perception of quantities differs from humans. One million sets of armor, even if all were just light infantry armor, would be ten million gold coins... Is anyone in this world capable of providing so much armor and weaponry? Whoever receives such a letter would go mad.* Time continued to tick away bit by bit. Jones was busy with exploration and surveying, Patia occupied with preparations for the refinery. Before they knew it, two days had passed. ... At midnight two days after Jones reached an agreement with Adolf, a portal opened in the inn where Adolf was staying. Exhausted, Adolf stepped out of the portal, then his expression froze. In his room, four Blood Clan members stared at him in shock. Both sides seemed taken aback. The portal behind Adolf closed, and he quietly stepped back, vigilantly staring at the four Blood Clan members, tightly gripping his magic wand. The four Blood Clan members also stared at him with caution. "Who are you?" "Shouldn’t we be asking you?" After a brief surprise, one of the Blood Clan members retorted, "Who are you? Are you Blood Clan? Blood Clan doesn’t need to use magic wands. Was that space magic?" In response, a spell was cast. "Not good! He’s attacking!" one of the Blood Clan members cried out. Before anyone could react, Adolf raised his magic wand. In an instant, three of the four Blood Clan members were restrained by blood-red magic rings. Similar to Jones’s sacred binding but using a darker magic power instead of Holy Light. The remaining Blood Clan member skillfully dodged and rushed towards the window. Adolf turned his face sharply, casting another spell, and reached out his hand. A magic shield instantly formed on the window, and the escaping Blood Clan member crashed solidly into the shield. The loud bang echoed throughout the inn. The innkeeper, an aging goblin, jerked his head up. ... "Knock knock knock." The innkeeper knocked on Adolf’s door. "Young Master Adolf! Are you okay? I heard noises downstairs; it sounded like it came from your room!" Behind the goblin innkeeper stood four guards. "Young Master Adolf? Are you there? Could you please open the door?" After a while, the door opened a crack, revealing Adolf’s pale face, not just pale, but blood flowed from his mouth, staining a large part of his chest red. The goblin innkeeper was startled and quickly said, "Young Master Adolf, are you alright?" "I’m fine," Adolf replied softly. "But I see you’re bleeding," the goblin innkeeper pointed to Adolf’s blood-soaked chin. "This isn’t blood from bleeding," Adolf said wearily, "I stained my clothes while drinking blood just now. The noise was loud, I heard it. So, I accidentally spilled it. I am Blood Clan; blood is my food—very normal." "Well, alright then. Have a nice day." Turning his face, the goblin innkeeper said to his guards, "Check the other rooms; something must have happened there. Go quickly!" "Yes!" ... After closing the door, Adolf leaned against the wall and slowly slid down. He lowered his head and coughed heavily, coughing up some fresh blood, then looked aside. The four Blood Clan members lying on the floor were already silent. Adolf leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, and took a moment to recover. Using his magic wand for support, he slowly stood up and walked to the corpses, checking them one by one, looking at everything carefully. Yet he found nothing. He could only collapse onto the floor, staring at the ceiling helplessly, murmuring, "Who are they? Why were they here? Did someone send them? How much do they know?" As he spoke, he lightly tapped the ground with his magic wand, and a wind instantly swept through the room. The four bodies, all their belongings, and the blood stains on Adolf’s face and chest were all turned to fine sand and vanished in the wind without a trace.

Chapter 290 - 34: The Lord (2)

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